Veneto to collaborate with IMOLA

The official delegation from the Veneto Region, Italia paid a visit to IMOLA Project and the Thua Thien Hue Province from June 27 through July 3, 2009. The delegation consisted of representatives for regional authority, technical agencies and enterprises of the Veneto Region, Deltamed Association, Generalitat Catalunyaof Spain, and FAO headquarters.

This visit was organized as a follow-up of the study tour by the senior provincial officials of Thua Thien Hue to the lagoon in northern Italy facilitated by IMOLA Project in April 2006. The visit was also to explore the possibility of further cooperation and support to the Thua Thien Hue Province and IMOLA Project for sustainable lagoon management.

After two days of field trips to two inlets of Thuan An and Tu Hien, a technical session was organized with the involvement of key officials from Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and a relevant department to share experiences and lessons learnt from lagoon and wetland management in respective regions. The local counterparts showed deep interest in learning the experiences in better lagoon management presented by Management Boards of Venice Lagoon, Consortium Delta Po Adige, Veneto Region, and Deltamed Association of Spain.

In the official meeting with Thua Thien Hue PPC, the mission officially invited the Province to join the Deltamed in Spain and to attend the International Conference on Mediterranean Lagoons to be organized in Venice in October 2009 to present experiences from Thua Thien Hue. The provincial authority expressed their interest in the invitation and committed to assign delegates to participate in the conference and the Deltamed network.

On 2 July, the mission was concluded with the signing ceremony of the Declaration of Intent among Veneto Region, FAO, and Thua Thien Hue PPC. The Declaration included the intent to initiate the procedures to formalize a cultural and technological cooperation between the Thua Thien Hue Province and the Veneto Region, and the development of a collaboration in the sectors of mutual interests.